First, Trump went for our universities. Now, the president and his cronies are going after our
museums.
It's almost as though knowledge and education -- two essential pieces of a functioning country and democracy -- are threatening to our current administration.Sign now to tell the Smithsonian Board of Regents: do not cave into the authoritarian demands of the Trump Administration!The Smithsonian is truly a national treasure. Established by Congress nearly 200 years ago, it was created with a simple, but profound goal:
"the increase and diffusion of knowledge." And since its founding, it has clearly succeeded in accomplishing its mission.
The Smithsonian consists of over a dozen museums, each visited by people from around the world. In 2024 alone, over 16 million people visited one of the many Smithsonian museums -- all of which are free to the public. These are vibrant educational institutions, and
egotistical presidents should not be dictating how they portray history. Historians and experts should be doing that.
Yet amidst a barrage of executive orders this spring, one in particular is threatening the Smithsonian. Titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," the order calls for removing "improper ideology" from Smithsonian Museums. But we all know what that really means:
eliminating anything Trump doesn't like.After the order was announced,
the president went onto Truth Social to complain that the Smithsonian was putting too much of an emphasis on "how bad Slavery was…" Slavery was and always will be one of the darkest parts of American history, and the task of institutions like the Smithsonian is to ensure we
never forget nor stop honoring its victims…lest we go backward.
Most recently, the Trump administration has
attacked several national parks by
demanding they remove certain materials "relating to slavery and Native Americans." One of the things Trump wants to censor is the photo famously known as "The Scourged Back," showing a formerly enslaved man with extreme scars on his back from being whipped. This photo became one of the most striking images from the time of the Civil War; it was, for many, the first real look into the
pure evil that slavery truly was. It's almost as if
this administration is reading a textbook about how authoritarian governments have operated in the past. One of the first things authoritarian leaders do is work to
rewrite history and reframe it in the ways that flatter them and misrepresent the oppression of others.The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian are appointed by Congress -- not the White House.
It is time they stand up to this pressure and refuse to censor Smithsonian exhibits based on the whims of a wanna-be authoritarian. Sign the petition now if you agree!